Engineers pride themselves on not being fashionably dressed, but following technology trends is a different matter.

One only has to look at how we dress to see that engineers are not a very faddish lot. But engineering has roots in the sciences. That science may often be driven more by fashion than by need is one of our disturbing realizations of the past two centuries. Science is sexy, and sexiness begs fashion. Many such fashions revolve around societal myths about the scientific nature of things, fed by the science fiction fantasies of our youth — ideas like the speed of light. If you can sniff that neutrinos might travel faster than light, it’s important to start the presses rolling. We in our horn-rimmed glasses and plaid shirts see ourselves as having one foot firmly planted in the concrete, the girders, or the silicon mazes of production. We respect the laws of physics for how they temper sensationalism. But our few sensational successes owe more to project management than to sci...